Trikepilot Social

Bryan Tuffnell

56 years old

January 07, 1962

Male

Location

Christchurch

New Zealand

Current Status

A big shout out to trike manufacturers... here in my corner of the world, we have the pleasure of having a bunch of NASA pilots visiting us, and in a moment of idle reflection I was just looking at the NASA Paresev from 1962 (worth googling!). In terms o

Latest Activity

You know, Joe, sometimes there's a disconnect between what I'm trying to say and what I write, and reading your post crystalised the point I'm trying to make: it can be just as dangerous, difficult and demanding to transition from a fast wing to ...

Yes! I know a student (5'3", 110 lb) who found a Wizard wing too difficult. I put her in an Arrow S, and she flies it with aplomb. In particular, the stability and long float on landing made the Arrow much easier.

I can't help feel that rating wings is a bad idea for another reason.
While I firmly believe that transition training is a good idea, in my opinion it is a mistake to regard some trikes as 'more dangerous' than others. A pilot who cannot ...

And THAT would be a great topic to chew on over a beer and steak sometime: just for grins, take a Wizard wing, which seems to be a great wing for PIO, and an Arrow wing, which few pilots have PIO problems with but will sustain a slip... and which is ...

You raise a great point, David - we choose wings to suit ourselves, and isn't it great that we can.
But if we strive to make wings that overcome all our lack of skills, does that drive the philosophy of the development of the sport closer to the ...

Joe, you'll have the opportunity to fly an Arrow when you get here! In my opinion: I'd want to learn to fly on a twitchier wing than an Arrow, because I feel that I'd develop more as a pilot. I'd learn coordinated turns, and learn 'unusual ...

I would regard those winglets as absolutely essential for anyone flying those wings who does not coordinate turns. To some extent those winglets are like training wheels on a kid's bike: they limit the options of the pilot and will not stop ...

Actually, I would have said the Arrow is pretty easy to fly! :-) Easier in some critical aspects than than many single surface wings. Yeah, it will sustain a slip more readily than most and it certainly flies a little twisted due to the engine not ...

Hi Andy ~ try this: http://www.trikepilot.com/magazine/read/more-on-turns_1167.html
I don't believe that stalling is as big an issue as it's often made out to be. I do believe that unbalanced turns are biting more pilots than is given credit.
The ...

On the Arrow S, an uncoordinated turn may 'stick' and the pilot may find that they cannot roll out of the turn unless they coordinate the turn first.
The need for every pilot to understand turns has been well covered. I am not suggesting that this ...

If that's the case, it's one aircraft where a good instructor should have been onboard. The sheriff's comments are obviously wide of the mark and I wouldn't want to speculate on the cause, but everyone should be aware that the Arrow S needs a little ...

I think the wonderful thing about the Wizard wing, and I think this is Larry's point, is that it does what it's told. I think they're a real hoot to fly, and while a Wizard wouldn't be my first choice as a mountain flying wing, they're perfectly ...

With all due respect, I'm going to disagree. Every wing has its foibles, but if any Wizard wing (I, II or III) is oscillating when it is put into a dive, the oscillation comes from the pilot, not the wing. Any version of the Wizard will track fine ...

The notion of going around is always worth hammering. It was the hardest thing for me to get my head around when learning to fly trikes.
I like relatively fast, steep, power-off approaches unless the landing area is too small to allow it. It helps ...

19 days ago

About

Ex-purist mountaineering/skiing/sailplane/hang gliding type who went to the Dark Side about ten years ago to make lots of noise and blue smoke.